How Travel Can Boost Your Productivity & Creativity

The world is a book and those who do not travel see only one page of it – St. Augustine

Isn’t it true that each time you travel to a place you explore new characters, plots and imagery just like if you would read a book? Unknown alleys of the places you visit lead you to discover the mysterious parts of your deepest self. Of late, we have seen a sudden surge in the number of people traveling and we don’t need a research data to validate that.

We see friends and friends of friends and almost the entire world posting pictures of their local and international journeys. From short road trips to unexplored places up north to enjoying a vacation in a foreign locale. There is a sudden shift, as one could sense, from being a tourist to traveler as many are taking the risk of exploring quaint and far off countries and places, which have, for the most times, been inconspicuous and untouched.

In fact, in France, it is considered mandatory for the French to take a vacation. In the country, people as young as 18 years of age to older generation in their 70’s pack their bags to trot the globe. They work to earn, pay bills and go for a holiday. It has been reported that this makes them more creative, productive and more efficient at work. This culture is slowly catching up in India, though slowly.

But, why travel at all? In this mad rush of meeting deadlines, waiting for appraisals, minting money, submitting assignments, pleasing mentors, paying bills and even to just find inspiration, who has the time and energy to even think of a break? Maybe it is time that we look at ourselves and our lives differently to ensure excellence and let all other factors follow suit.

Research shows that far from being a halt at the performance levels, travel, in fact, exponentially increases productivity. As working professionals, housewives or even as students, we all experience burnout.

Here are the reasons that why you should confer more importance to making and executing travel plans.

• Mind And Body Need Rest

Even a machine tires out after a time because of over-heating or over use. We are only humans. We need substantial amount of time to recuperate. A well-rested mind and body is a wealthy mind and healthy body. Just like a machine requires timely servicing, our body requires regular oiling, in the form of vacations.

• Helps Think Afresh

While on a vacation, we are so engrossed in absorbing all the new experiences that our mind shuns unnecessary troubling thoughts of work, study, stress or other aspects of life. New experiences give us the opportunity to evaluate our thoughts and feelings. Sometimes new culture helps us to reflect back on our own. We start looking at things at work and in life from a different vantage point.

• Brings People Closer

Sometimes, it is the lack of time and communication with people who surround us that takes a toll. And this is a cause of most of our worries which eventually takes up a lot of our headspace. Couples, parents and children, siblings, boss-employee all can benefit from a little break.

Traveling together to a place brings people closer as we connect in a space different from the usual. It gives us opportunities to do certain activities together from reading maps to finding our ways, from trying to understand a different language signs to simply enjoying a meal together. Or to just have simple conversations with each other.

• Recreates Us

Even solo trips can do wonders to our soul. It helps us to connect with some of our deepest desires and emotions that often go unnoticed in the daily run. This in turn helps us prioritize and organize our life in a way that reaps results in no time. We get to listen to our instincts carefully and simply follow them.

What more do we want than packing our bags and de-cluttering our headspace to give the best of ourselves in all spheres? Ultimately, the best of us will help us evolve in a way that will ultimately be an integral source of happiness. This will bring down the employee burnout and attrition rate.

As students, we are in the prime age of learning and absorbing the maximum from our environment. Therefore, travel does us better as it helps in learning life skills such as planning, decision making, risk taking etc. which helps survive in the real world.

So what are you waiting for? Take a break. Book your dates. Switch off from work for a while and take the plunge. Travel to explore yourself.

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